


A Hot Pair We Will Be

by AstroGold



Category: Disney Duck Universe, DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: (eventually) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Diamond Thieves AU, F/M, One Shot Collection, Poker, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 13:50:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20472080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstroGold/pseuds/AstroGold
Summary: This will eventually have a different title and will be a collection of one-shots for my Diamond Thieves!Scroldie AU, but for now...have some poker fun. ;)





	A Hot Pair We Will Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scrooge really needs to work on that poker face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is actually based on a request I got back in the spring from a kissing prompt. An anon asked for Scroldie and "kisses meant to distract the other person from whatever they were intently doing." That didn't become the focus but...here we are. :)

"Damn it, I fold," Goldie declared, throwing her cards down on the table before her as she leaned back in her chair. The happy, oblivious grin of her opponent as he collected the pot (all they had were coffee beans to bet with) made her cross her arms in sour indignation. "Beginner's luck," she mumbled.

Scrooge didn't miss a beat as he drew the beans into a little pile off to the side, then tossed three back to the center as ante. "Luck had nothing to do with it."

She harrumphed in response, but nevertheless added her ante and began to gather up their cards to shuffle them.

They'd been playing poker for about an hour now––or, more accurately, Goldie was trying to teach Scrooge the ways of the game through trial and error after a couple practice rounds––as they waited for the victims of their next heist from their hotel room's window. Soon enough, some oil tycoon and his wife would be rolling into Devil's Dust, and as soon as their carriage stopped at the hotel, the two thieves would make their move.

But for now, poker.

After finishing her shuffle with an expert flourish, Goldie dealt out five cards each to Scrooge and herself while noting, "I still can't believe you've never played poker before."

"Believe it, lass."

"But there must've been _some_ games going on during all your boat rides around the world. What were you doing instead?" 

Scrooge shifted his glance out the window with a small grimace. "Usually stoking the ship's boiler so I could _be_ on it in the first place. That, or writing letters."

Goldie winced. She hadn't meant to undermine his voyages, but still, the revelation was hard to believe. Almost forty years old and not one hand played before? She shouldn't have been luring him to the Blackjack to steal his gold nugget; she should've been bringing him in to teach him a thing (or two) while having fun.

Still, better late than never. And with a future as uncertain as the unseen cards that lay before her, they had plenty of time to get him up to speed.

Cards dealt, they picked up their hands, and the game commenced.

Three-of-a-kind of twos. Not the best hand, but Goldie could work with it. Keeping her expression neutral, she peeked up at her partner.

Rules and card skills aside, there was one thing that Scrooge desperately needed to work on more than anything else: his poker face. He thought he was being slick by trying to school himself into looking indifferent every time he saw his cards, but right before that, he always gave himself away. If he had a good hand, his eyes would crinkle up with the barest hint of a smile. A bad hand, and he'd flick the corner of his cards with his thumb. In all likelihood, he hadn't noticed he was doing these things, but Goldie sure had. And as amusing and adorable as it was, she couldn't let it continue for much longer.

This time, it was a smile, and a rather surprised one at that. He must've had an amazing hand, or what he thought was one. Goldie couldn't tell for sure. Hand rankings were something he was having an easier time learning, or so it seemed.

But she didn't want to let him win again, not after his luck on the last two rounds. And after he placed a bet of ten coffee beans (their limit), she was _determined_ to not let him win again.

When Scrooge caught a yawn with the back of his hand, Goldie saw her chance to set things straight. After matching his bet, she asked, "More coffee?" After all, they were still conducting a stakeout and needed to stay alert for it.

"Yes, please." Scrooge laid down his hand on the table and slumped back in his chair as she got up and set their room's kettle on the stove to heat it up. Popping open the top button of his collar, he added, "I hope these Vanderquacks don't take too much longer to get here."

"Should be within the hour." Goldie sauntered back over to him, draping her arms across his shoulders and pressing a kiss to the corner of his beak, then another, and another. Anything to keep his mind off the lack of carriage outside and, more importantly, their game. Her hands massaged his arms as she kissed further down his neck, and he hummed his content.

By the time the kettle whistled, Scrooge had pulled Goldie to the side of his chair so he could kiss her properly, or as proper as a lazy summer night's kiss could be, holding her close with a hand on the back of her neck. Goldie was sure that if he had a choice, he would insist on cuddling up together in their bed and listening to the crickets chirp outside for the rest of the night.

A tempting want, but there were people to rob. Coffee to drink. A game to win.

Once they each had a steaming mug of caffeine in front of them once again, the game resumed.

Goldie drew two cards for herself, biting back a sigh when the new cards didn't offer anything better for her hand. She looked up at Scrooge expectantly. His eyes were analyzing his cards, but other than a long sip from his mug, he did nothing.

When he noticed her waiting, he quirked an eyebrow, prompting her to ask, "Well, aren't you gonna draw any cards?"

With another glance at his hand, he shook his head. "Nope."

_Drat._

After some wavering, she laid out her cards, calling, "I fold." She'd get him next time for sure, but she wasn't going to wager anymore this round.

Scrooge's cheer was sudden and loud. "Haha, yes! I win again!"

That competitive fire sprang to life in his gaze once more, but there was something different to it this time. It was more...confident. More smug. With a glance down at his cards, she saw why.

A single pair of fives were all he had to boast.

She'd been duped.

Goldie leveled him with a look of offended astonishment and Scrooge simply laughed, gathering up his winnings proudly. "Didn't see this one coming, did ye?" he taunted.

She really hadn't. Sure, his actual poker face still needed work, but that had been one hell of a bluff.

With a nod of approval, she mused, "We may just make a player out of you yet, Cowboy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ****UPDATE**: This story now features the incredible talents of @koizumi-marichan (on tumblr), whom I commissioned for the above comic, with an added little bonus scene of Scrooge and Goldie getting their hands on the Vanderquacks' jewels! 💖😍 Please be sure to go give her and her work some love! (Post for the comic can be found [here](https://koizumi-marichan.tumblr.com/post/629193526373154816/commission-for-astrodances-a-three-panel-comic)!)
> 
> ~~
> 
> Yay more Diamond Thieves!
> 
> What I love is that I was able to work in that recent OOC Goldie quote, but with Scrooge saying it instead.
> 
> What I love even more is AU notes! Here we go:
> 
> \- This chapter takes place somewhere between 1905 and 1906, within a year after "Outlaw Scrooge McDuck." Scrooge and Goldie have been traveling across the Old (I mean "current") West, carrying out various small-town heists.
> 
> \- Looks like they're gonna steal from the Vanderquacks, Webby's ancestors! I'm not sure quite yet all the details of this part, but I think it would definitely come up down the line (I say as I realize that I haven't really elaborated on Webby in this yet - still got that master post I need to make).
> 
> \- Based on that last line, Goldie sometimes calls Scrooge "Cowboy" as a nickname (particularly when he's playing card games), as a shoutout to this era in their lives, and because the King card has that as a nickname, and Scrooge is the King of the Klondike.
> 
> \- I only found this out after the fact of giving Goldie a three-of-a-kind, but apparently her hand in the game is called a "Huey, Dewey, and Louie"! XD So I went ahead and made hers all of twos.
> 
> \- "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga was the inspiration for this chapter's title, and is definitely going on the AU's playlist. Also, can we appreciate how "a hot pair we will be" is basically the Gaga/poker version of "a diamond cufflink pair, you and I"??? XD
> 
> Thank you for reading, and kudos and comments are always much appreciated! ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Master post link to be added here eventually (sorry for all these notes to myself for now!)


End file.
